Thursday, April 2, 2009

Mass Effect; PS2 Price Cut

I was insanely busy last week and so I wasn't as on top of the news coming out of GDC as I wanted to be, but GDC isn't really a news-generating event as much as it is a conference for game developers (I think that's why they call it "Game Developers Conference"). That said, there were a few companies touting their wares, and while most gamers are probably foaming at the mouth over Modern Warfare 2, the games I was most excited to hear about were Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2.

I'm not even sure there was any specific ME2 news, other than some leaked shakycam footage and the revelation that it will feature faster loading times (which (in my opinion) has been the only really consistent problem in Bioware's console RPG catalog - KOTOR and Jade Empire were annoying in that regard as well). But Mass Effect was part of 2007's holy trinity of awesome (alongside Bioshock and Portal)*, and I sunk around 50 hours over two (2!) playthroughs, and the thought of a new and improved sequel started getting me giddy...

...and now I'm sorta playing it again, for the third time. I've not really been able to really sit down and dig in, though, since I've been busy; I raced through the first planet and am kinda speeding through the first visit to the Citadel, and I'm even skimming through conversations. I don't have any particular agenda this time, either, except to keep the story fresh in my mind and hopefully hit level 60.

My original write-ups on my old GS blog (#1, #2, #3, #4) are pretty badly written, but they provide some context.

---------------------

Sony announced yesterday that they were dropping the PS2's price point to $99, and lemme tell you - I'm sorta considering it. There's a handful of PS2 games that I'm kinda bummed I never got to play - FFX, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, the first two God of War games, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others - and $99 for access to the PS2's gargantuan library is pretty tempting, I must admit.

* I still can't quite believe that Mass Effect, Bioshock and Portal all came out in the six-month period. And to think that Super Mario Galaxy was also in that mix? Jesus Christ. I defy anyone to say that there was a better year in gaming than 2007.